Sousaku no Kagami
by coca-cola addict
Summary: AU, definitely AU! Cesia and her little brother Zoma didn't know what to expect when they went to live with their cousins. What Cesia didn't expect was that her and her new friends would get caught up in a search for their own power and a missing immortal
1. The Journey Begins

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Knights. I don't even own me! But I do own Kara (my OC)!**

Hi! I'm coca-cola addict, call me pepsi.

This story is a bit different, I just came up with it one day and it started to grow on its own. People probably won't like it but that's not really my problem because since you don't know my real identity, you can't stone me. There will probably be some crossover with a couple other animes later on and there are a few OCs, so bear with me. There are also going to be my favoritecouples (Rath/Cesia, Thatz/Kitchel, Rune/Tintlet, and Lim Kaana/Fedelta)!If you do enjoy it, then that's great. If you hadn't all ready guessed from that ramble, I'm very insecure. But anyway read on!

* * *

Cesia stepped into the crowded airport terminal and took a deep breath.

"Cesia, where are they?" her little brother Zoma asked from her side. "I don't know," she said apprehensively as she searched the terminal for any sign of their cousins. Recently, she and Zoma had been told they were being sent to live with their cousins. The oldest was just about to graduate college, one was in high school, and the youngest was in middle school. But since they had never really met she didn't know what to look for.

"Kitchel! Kara! Wait up!" came a frantic voice from somewhere to Cesia and Zoma's right.

"You should hurry up Ringleys!" came another voice from the same direction.

"Oh just leave him alone Kitchel," said another disembodied voice.

Cesia and Zoma turned to their right and saw three figures. The tallest had long purple hair and glittering black eyes. She was dressed casually in a loose black jacket, natural floral and lace tanktop, and light wash jeans. The second figure had short carnation pink hair and jade eyes. She was even more casually dressed than the first girl in a black tanktop and denim shorts; some of her hair was brushed to the side and held back with a scrunchie. The third, final, and shortest figure was a boy with spiky black green hair and gold eyes like Cesia's and Zoma's. He was wearing light wash jeans that were probably too long for him judging by the fact that they were rolled up at the ends with a matching jean jacket and a light blue t-shirt with a small rip in the neckline that was held together with two strips of yellow cotton. There seemed something familiar about them to Cesia.

She gathered up her courage, approached the group with Zoma in tow and said to the purple haired girl, "Excuse me, do you know Kara Mikkusu?"

Kara jumped at the sound and looked at a girl with long wavy black hair with red bangs and gold eyes. She was wearing a white poet's shirt with lacing on the bodice and sleeves and tailored black pants. Standing just behind her was a young boy about Ringleys's age with messy purple hair and matching gold eyes. He wore a white long sleeve shirt and dark wash jeans.

"Cesia? Cesia and Zoma Youkai?" she asked expectantly.

"Yes, that's us," Cesia answered.

Cesia didn't expect what came next. Both girls hugged her tightly and started talking in a rush.

"We're your cousins! I'm Kara, this is Kitchel, and this is Ringleys!" said the purple haired girl/Kara.

"We've wanted to meet you for so long! You need help with your bags?" asked the pink haired girl/Kitchel.

"Now that we've found you, let's get going!" exclaimed the boy/Ringleys.

Cesia's head spun. She hadn't expected such a warm welcome from people she had never met before! One look at Zoma told her he felt the same way.

An hour later they were seated around the dining room table.

"So, I was told you were about to graduate college Kara. What's your major?"

Cesia asked.

"Psychology and secondary education," Kara answered.

"She's going to be a psychology teacher, if you can believe it," said Kitchel rolling her eyes.

"What can I say? It comes from growing up around psychos like you guys," said Kara with an innocent shrug.

Cesia laughed. They had only just met, but she all ready liked Kara and Kitchel. Zoma and Ringleys had bonded as well and were currently playing video games in the living room. Zoma had nearly jumped through the roof in excitement when he learned that Ringleys was a RPG phanatic too.

"You're going to be going to my high school and Zoma will go to Ringleys's middle school," said Kitchel cheerfully when Cesia asked about where she would be going to school, "I can't wait to introduce you to Tintlet and Lim, they're my best friends. And I can all ready tell that you'll fit right in," she said with a giggle.

"Oh, that reminds me!" exclaimed Kara, "Some friends of mine are going to throw a 'Welcome!' party for you and Zoma, Cesia, and they said it would be okay if you invited Tintlet and her sisters, Kitchel."

"You're kidding right?" asked Kitchel, "they've all ready invited so many people!"

"I believe Raseleane's words were 'the more the merrier'. Typical Raseleane really," Kara responded with a trademark shrug, "Anyway, it's about time we all got to bed. Big day tomorrow what with that party and all, besides you two travelers must be really tired. Hear that Ringleys!" Kara shouted the last part.

"Yeah, yeah, we're turning off the PS2 now," came Ringleys begrudged voice from the living room.

"Good," said Kara, "See you all in the morning." And with that Kara waved over her shoulder and headed upstairs to her room.

"Come on Zoma!" said Ringleys, "you're bunking with me!" The boys ran up the stairs and slammed the door to Ringleys's room.

"Well come on Cesia, you're sharing a room with me," said Kitchel with a smile. She turned off the kitchen and living room lights and led Cesia upstairs.

As soon as Cesia's head hit the pillow, she was out. She didn't even change. She hadn't even realized how tired she was.

-

Raseleane Deus hummed as she went about her morning chores. She was so excited! Today they would meet Kara's cousins!

"Rath, dear, time to get up!" she called into her foster son's room. She hadn't expected an answer and didn't get one.

But nevertheless, Rath appeared in the kitchen 15 minutes later while Raseleane was going through her guest list.

"Let's see, I hope I invited enough people! Kara, her sister, her brother, and her cousins are coming of course. So are Ruwalk and Cernozura with Pyore, Alfeegi, Tetheus and his brothers and sister, Rath's friends, the neighbors, and then a friend of Kara's sister…" Raseleane listed to herself.

"I think a lack of guests isn't really a problem," said Rath sweatdropping.

"Oh, morning Rath dear! Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," said Rath. He wasn't much of a talker.

Rath turned at the sound of a yawn on the stairs.

"What's all the fuss?" asked Kai-Stern Ryu sitting down next to Rath at the counter top.

Kai-Stern was a friend of Rath's foster father, Lykouleon. He was in college studying entreprenuership so he could start his own bar but a fire in his dorm had forced him to move out. Lykouleon and Raseleane had been there to lend a helping hand and invited him to stay at their house. Kai-Stern had, however, insisted on paying rent. But above all that, Kai-Stern was the only person in this house who didn't drive Rath completely and totally crazy. He had short white blonde hair and light red eyes. This morning he was wearing a white t-shirt and black jeans.

"Hey, Rath," he greeted Rath with a wink.

"Hey, Kai-Stern," Rath responded with a smile.

Raseleane smiled and happily went about preparing breakfast. Her long, swirling black hair reached below her waist, her blue eyes sparkled, and she smelled faintly of roses. _No wonder Lykouleon hadn't waited to marry her_, Rath thought. But despite all that, Rath really didn't think he wanted a relationship like Lykouleon and Raseleane's, they got along too well. He had told Kai-Stern so once. Kai-Stern had laughed and agreed but said that it worked for Lykouleon and Raseleane so why complain.

Lykouleon himself was the next to come down the stairs. He had wild blonde hair that spiked out all over his hair and blue grey eyes that seemed kind but also as though they could see people's souls. Rath shivered, Lykouleon, nice as he was, always creeped him out a little bit.

"Morning," Lykouleon greeted everyone.

"Good morning!" said Raseleane with her big smile.

"Mornin'" said Kai-Stern absentmindedly from behind his textbook.

"I'm gonna go get dressed," said Rath and he hastily retreated from the sunny kitchen to his much more comfortably shadowy room upstairs. He closed the door and flung himself down on his back. He had nothing to do so he figured he might as well do what he said he was going to do and get dressed. He pulled a heather gray t-shirt and baggy black pants out of the tangle of clothes in his open dresser drawer and then pulled them on. He took a look at himself in the mirror. He had short black hair with a lock of white hair on one side of his bangs and red eyes.

All of a sudden an idea came into his head, he pulled on his black combat boots, ran downstairs, announced he was going to visit his friend Thatz, and ran out the door before anyone could say anything.

-

_Beep, beep, screeeech _came the whine of Tetheus's dying alarm clock. Tetheus Black's fist slammed down crushing the all ready doomed alarm clock. He would have to remember to stop doing that. He dressed in his usual black long sleeved shirt and pants and went downstairs. Even halfway down the stairs he could hear his younger brother and sister bickering. His twin younger brother and sister, Shydeman and Shyrendora were yelling at each other in the kitchen, the island in between them. They both had long white hair (respectively different lengths of long seeing as one was a boy and one was a girl), cold, violet eyes, and several blue tattoos on their faces. Shydeman's best friend Fedelta was sitting at the end of the island facing the stairs, his head propped on his arm looking bored. Fedelta had dark red hair and smokey gray eyes. Shydeman, Shyrendora, and Fedelta were unmistakable goths. Tetheus didn't even bother to ask what had gotten the high school Juniors so upset. Instead he flopped into a chair in the living room seeing as his other brother, Laamgarnas, was stretched out on the couch, asleep. He could sleep through anything. Laamgarnas had dark gray and black hair and was also dressed in mostly black. Yes, the Blacks liked to dress in black.

Tetheus pulled a textbook out of his bag, slicked back his short, black hair with one hand, and trained his crimson eyes on the pages of the handbook on the basics of being a policeman he had been assigned. It didn't surprise many people that this tall, silent, obviously strong man was going to be a cop.

"Tetheus!" shrieked two voices simultaneously.

Tetheus looked up to see Shydeman and Shyrendora storming towards him. "Yes?" he asked in his deep, monotone voice.

"I'm not going!" both twins said at once then glared at each other. Tetheus immediately decided he wanted no part of whatever was coming.

"Not going to what?" Tetheus asked.

"To that party!" screamed Shyrendora.

"You see, Fedelta's got tickets to a concert that we'd rather go to," said Shydeman diplomatically. He wasn't as bipolar as Shyrendora…usually.

"Fine," said Tetheus before returning to his textbook.

"Um, o-okay," stuttered Shydeman.

"You're agreeing? Just like that?" asked an incredulous Shyrendora.

"Sure," said Tetheus, "They're my friends after all, not yours. And as long as I bring Laam, Raseleane will be happy."

"But…" Shyrendora started to ask another question but Shydeman cut her off by dragging her out of the room back to the kitchen where Fedelta was waiting.

Laamgarnas continued to snore on the couch.

-

Rath walked along the well cared for suburban street until he came to Thatz's house. He knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer.

"Hello? Oh, hi Rath," said Thatz's sister when she opened the door.

"Hey Silk, is Thatz there?" Rath asked.

Thatz's stepsister Silk was a year older than Rath and Thatz and was a Junior in high school. She had long blonde hair and grey eyes. She was wearing a true blue antique floral top and khakis.

"No, I'm afraid he's over at Rune's. You could try there if you really have to talk to him," Silk said.

"Thanks," said Rath and headed to Rune's.

Silk closed the door, then went back to her room. She went back to the homework she was doing and tried to put thoughts of going to Rune's too out of her mind. Not that she wanted to go for Rath, Rune, or even Thatz's sake.

-

Rath, after walking several more blocks, arrived at Rune Fee's house. Just as he was about to knock on the door, he heard a bloodcurdling scream followed by a dangerous voice screaming "NOHIRO!".

"I SWEAR IT WASN'T ME DELTE!" came a frightened yell from inside the house. Next came the inevitable sound of breaking furniture, this time followed by another yelling voice.

"NOHIRO, WHAT DID YOU DO! AND DELTE DON'T BREAK CHAIRS!"

"LIKE YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!" came a girl's voice.

Rath sighed, even if he did knock, it would be impropable that anyone would hear him, so instead he opened the door a crack and stuck his head inside. "Is anyone being seriously mutilated or can I come in?" he asked innocently.

"Oh, hey Rath," said Thatz from his perch on the stairs, "Come on in. This could take a while."

Rath entered the house, carefully shutting the door behind him and sat down next to Thatz. Thatz looked about the same as he did every day. He had short green hair, several interesting scars such as a slash across his face and 'x' scars on his legs, arms, and cheek. He wore a dark blue sleeveless t-shirt and earthy tan Bermuda shorts. As usual, he was eating; right now he was eating a candy bar. Rath was eternally amazed at how much food Thatz could eat.

"So what happened?" Rath asked surveying the scene in front of them.

"I'm not quite sure. Delte just came downstairs yelling at Nohiro for something, and well she broke a chair and Rune jumped into the fray yelling about costs. Oh look, Rune's got a chair now," Thatz commented.

Indeed, Rune did have a chair, raised and ready to inflict some serious damage.

"Who's your money on?" Thatz asked.

"No contest, Rune," Rath responded.

"I'm partial to Delte personally," said Thatz, "Whatever happened has got her super steamed and she can be just as dangerous as Rune when she wants to be."

Rath shrugged. He wouldn't put it past either Rune or Delte to emerge the victor. Poor Nohiro, on the other hand, had no chance. He just wasn't as violent as his siblings.

You wouldn't think just by looking at this family that they harbored such a violent streak, but they did. Rune was often mistaken for a girl with his long blonde hair and blue eyes. And he did sort of look like one, even though he was wearing a relatively loose white shirt with a blue denim vest and black pants. Delte was a Freshman in high school, making her a year younger than Rath, Thatz, and Rune and two years younger than Nohiro who was a Junior. She had almost shoulder length curly light brown hair and blue eyes. Today she was wearing a white, velour flashdance sweater, coffee wash jeans, and jumbles of silver stars as earrings. Nohiro was the oldest and was currently cowering in a corner while Delte and Rune fought it out. He had short black hair and always wore a white headband. Today he was dressed in a black sweatshirt and faded dark rinse jeans.

"So, you're mom's having a party tonight right?"

"Yeah," said Rath not bothering to point out that Raseleane was actually his foster mom. No one really paid much attention to the fact that he was a foster child except him; it was their way of comforting him. Needless to say, the technique didn't work and Rath resented the fact that they couldn't just spare him pity period. "One of their friends has cousins moving in with them and it's sort of like a welcome party."

"You know the people moving in?"

"No, I don't think Kara or Kitchel have even met them before."

"Funny, 'Chel didn't mention anything about having people coming to stay."

"I don't really think the topic would come up in one of your arguments."

Thatz shrugged and laughed. He and Kitchel had been enemies for years. Around Freshman year it had turned into more of a friendly rivalry though.

It was then that Nohiro noticed Rath and Thatz on the stairs. Grabbing the chance he yelled at Rune, "Rune! Your friends are here!"

"Huh?" asked Rune, "Oh, hi Rath. When did you get here? How did you get in? Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

"Thatz let me in, and I did knock. You just couldn't hear me because you were chasing people around with chairs again." Rath said cheerfully.

"Well I can't just let Delte break things!" Rune said, getting defensive.

"You're not making such a great example when you break things," muttered Delte.

"What happened anyway? What did Nohiro do?" asked Thatz nodding toward Nohiro curled into a ball in the corner of the room.

"He went through my room hunting for his stupid books! Again! He even went through my…" Delte broke off suddenly, turned scarlet, and didn't finish.

"I didn't see anything!" Nohiro insisted.

"I don't have time for this!" yelled Rune, getting pissed off again, "I'm going for a walk!"

Rune pulled on his coat, went outside, and slammed the door.

Rune came back in, threw his coat in the closet, and muttered, "It's 60 degrees out, I don't need a coat!" before heading back outside.

Rath and Thatz followed, waving goodbye to Delte and Nohiro.

"It's all your fault," Delte hissed glaring at Nohiro after the door closed for the third time.

If looks could kill, Nohiro would be dead. In fact, he could've sworn his heart missed a beat from sheer fear.

-

Tintlet hung up the phone, a big smile on her face. She had just gotten off the phone with her best friend Kitchel.

"Shian! Miyabi! Hanakusuku! Come down here for a minute!" she called up the stairs to her sisters.

"Why?" came Shian's voice.

"I have news!" Tintlet shouted back, "Good news!"

That was all it took. Tintlet stepped out of the way as a stampede of feet pounded on the stairs and her klutzy sisters spilled onto the entry way floor. Each of the triplets struggled up, Miyabi using Shian's arm.

Tintlet looked her younger sisters over, all three were in the eigth grade, and despite being triplets looked quite different from each other. They were all roughly the same height, but they all had different hair and eye colors. Shian had long electric blue hair she kept pulled back in a low ponytail except for her rogue bangs which framed her face and dark blue eyes. She wore a dark rinse denim halter top and black capris. Miyabi had long, thick red hair and dark brown eyes. She wore a black halter top and white mini skirt. Hanakusuku looked the most like her older sister, with her short wavy blonde hair and light blue eyes. She wore a white tee with splits in the sleeves and a floaty light purple mini skirt.

Tintlet had long swirling blonde hair that almost reached her waist and brilliant blue eyes not quite as light as Hanakusuku's or as dark as Shian's. She was wearing a white spaghetti strap tanktop and light blue silk skirt.

"Well?" asked Shian in the perturbed way which meant she was really curious.

Tintlet straightened, cleared her throat, and said, "I just got a call from Kitchel. A friend of her sister is throwing a party to welcome some cousins that have come to stay with them. And the hostess has extended an invitation to us."

"A party!" squeaked Miyabi.

"Yeah!" shrieked Hanakusuku.

Shian couldn't even speak (for once) she was so excited.

-

"Gil,"

Gil jumped at the sound of his name. He looked up at his father, Barl.

"Yeah?"

"I have to work late tonight. Will you please take Fiji to the neighbor's party?"

"Sure. You've been working late a lot lately,"

"I won't lie to you, Gil. We need the money. Fiji's going to need braces in a few years and you're in college. We could use some extra cash."

"I know," Gil sighed heavily, "But I'll take Fiji tonight, so don't worry."

"Thank you," said Barl heading to his room for a nap before he went back to work for the night.

Gil looked back at his text book and sighed again. Maybe he should just find a job someplace. But Barl would never go for that.

-

Reema Reel struggled to open the door and hold on to an overflowing bag of groceries. The young woman was petite, to say the least. Most of her long jet black hair was held back, her long bleached white bangs framing her small features which were overpowered by her big, blue eyes.

"Lim Kaana!" she yelled up the stairs, "Will you come down and help me with these groceries?"

Feet pounded and a small, yet tough young girl barrelled down the stairs, stopping just before she could bowl over her aunt.

Lim Kaana had short light brown hair and pinkish purple eyes. She wore a black spaghetti strap tanktop, black vest, skirt of lacy white ruffles with a black overskirt belted over it. Lim made all her own clothes.

"Hi. So you went grocery shopping?" Lim Kaana asked in one breath as was her usual manner, while relieving her aunt of her paper bag stuffed with food.

"We needed it. Bierrez eats like a pig,"

"He's not that bad. A friend of Kitchel's eats way more than that!"

"Really? Is that humanly possible?"

"I'm not sure,"

Reema and Lim fell into silence. It was a usual occurrence. It happened several times a day since Reema had first taken in her dead sister's kids, Bierrez and Lim Kaana.

"So, what are you up to tonight?" Reema asked, restarting the stalled conversation.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're in high school, it's a Saturday night, and you usually do something with your friends."

"Not tonight. Tintlet, Kitchel, Rune, and everybody are going to a party Rath's mom is throwing. I was invited but I didn't feel like going."

"Why? Is it because of Rune?"

"Maybe," said Lim, closing up a little bit. Reema had known that Lim Kaana had had quite a crush on her friend Rune. But, last month Lim had finally managed to accept that Rune would always love her best friend Tintlet. Lim hadn't wanted to jeopardize her friendships with either of them so she had been slowly trying to recover. However that recovery involved her distancing herself from social activities for a while.

Secretly Reema was very proud of her normally hot-tempered niece. In this one case, Lim had thought seriously enough about her situation and had followed through with her decision.

_I just want her to be happy,_ Reema thought looking at Lim sadly. After all she had been through with her mother's death, she deserved it.

-

Fedelta waved goodbye to Shydeman and Shyrendora before leaving the Black's house. But he wasn't heading home, not yet. He had one more ticket to tonight's concert.

He had told Shydeman his plan and he had agreed it was a good idea. Neither boy had told Shyrendora however, she would probably flip. And whichever way she flipped, positive or negative, she would be unbearable.

Halfway to his destination he decided it would be better not to think. Maybe it was because of that decision that he was vaguely surprised when he reached the house. On the outside, nothing much distinguished it from the other houses on the block. What differentiated this place for Fedelta was the person who lived inside.

He walked up to the door and knocked.

In a few seconds it was opened. Fedelta had to look down to see the opener. He smirked as smokey gray eyes met pinkish purple ones.

"What do you want?" asked Lim Kaana looking up, desperately trying to hide her surprise.

"Well, well, nice to see you're as rude as ever," said Fedelta boredly, still smirking. Every time he talked to Lim, it was surprising how easy it was.

"Like you're one to talk," snorted Lim Kaana.

"Now Lim, I was nice enough to come and see if you were interested to going to a concert tonight. But seeing as you don't seem too enthused about it, I'll be on my way." Fedelta turned to head back down the drive way, but was yanked back by a surprisingly strong hand and he was looking down at Lim again.

"Really?" she asked, not totally believing him but curious nonetheless.

"Yep,"

"…I'll go…"

"I'll pick you up at seven then," Fedelta said, leaning in and smirking once again, effectively cutting off whatever else she would say.

Lim Kaana pulled back stunned. Fedelta suppressed the urge to laugh and began walking down the drive way again.

This time Lim didn't pull him back, she merely shouted at him from her spot at the door.

"HEY! YOU'RE JUST LEAVING LIKE THAT! COME BACK HERE AND ACT LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

Fedelta smiled to himself, but didn't acknowledge Lim outwardly, allowing her to scream at him until she had either run out of breath or he had finally passed beyond hearing distance.

-

Cesia woke up on a strange bed and jolted up, panicked.

_This isn't my room! This isn't my bed! I'm still in my clothes! Where am I! Where's Zoma!_

Then all of a sudden the memories came rushing back and she knew where she was. She was on the extra twin bed that had been dragged into Kitchel's bedroom. A bed she would have to get used to, seeing as it was now hers.

She groggily dragged herself off the soft mattress and padded her way down the stairs towards sounds of life.

The scene she interrupted was far from normal in her eyes, but for the Mikkusu siblings, it was as normal and quiet as they got nowadays.

Kitchel was sliding across the wood floors in her socks singing show tunes off-key, so far off-key it should be considered illegal.

Zoma and Ringleys were once again playing video games. A restless Ringleys hopping up and down as he fought a rather large looking enemy. The two boys might as well have been jabbering in a different language as far as Cesia was concerned. She couldn't make sense out of a single word they were saying.

Kara was sprawled on her back on the couch, apparently asleep. Kitchel's singing and Zoma and Ringleys's yelling wasn't even making her toss and turn, let alone waking her up. She was also in the same clothes she wore yesterday, her hair was tossed about splayed across the armrest she was using as a pillow as well as her own face, an open psychology text book obscuring most of her face and upper chest.

"Morning sleepy-head," greeted Kitchel sliding over to the steps as she noticed Cesia's presence.

For lack of anything else, Cesia asked the age-old fall back question used by people who have woken up and stumbled upon slightly weird scenes such as this one.

"What time is it?"

"12:30,"

"I really slept that late!"

"Yeah. Guess it must be jet lag or something,"

"What about Kara?" Cesia asked pointing at the couch.

"Oh, she always sleeps late on Saturdays. Mostly because she either stays up late Friday night studying so she doesn't have to study all weekend."

"I see,"

"Want some breakfast?"

"Sure,"

"All right then, I know a good place to go. Come with me," Kitchel sprang up, slipped her shoes on, and strode towards the door.

"We're not staying here?" Cesia asked surprised.

"Nope, Kara's the only one that can cook at least a little bit, I don't feel like it, and the most Ringleys can manage is burned toast," Kitchel explained.

"All right, then. But can I change first?" Cesia asked.

"Sure,"

Cesia didn't waste time, she bounded up the stairs, closed the door to the room she and Kitchel now shared, and threw her suitcase open.

She tried to move fast, and in relatively short time for a girl, emerged again dressed in black twill pants and a black medieval corset laced over a plain white tee. Her hair, as always, was worn loose and rippled down her back in waves.

"Ready?" Kitchel asked from her post by the door. She was wearing black shorts, a tanktop with designs like newspaper clippings, and a loose white jacket with black ankle boots. Her hair done up like it had been yesterday.

"Yep," said Cesia as she followed Kitchel out the door and down the suburban sidewalks.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see,"

They chatted as they walked, until Kitchel stopped in front of a white with blue trim, traditional middle class house.

"Where are we?" Cesia asked.

"This is where my friend Tintlet lives. Her parents are out for a while and she's a great cook so I've been coming here for breakfast lately. Either that or I go to Thatz's, the guy's a glutton but is consequently a good cook," Kitchel said by way of an answer.

"Who's Thatz?" asked Cesia as Kitchel rang the doorbell.

"Oh, he's a guy from school. You'll probably meet him at the party tonight,"

_I bet he's more than just a 'guy from school' by the look on your face…_ Cesia thought slyly observing her cousin's slightly red countenance. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by a thump beyond the door. Said door was then flung wide open, revealing three young girls.

"Are you here to eat again Kitchel?" asked the one with an electric blue ponytail.

"Shian! Be more polite!" squealed the blonde girl who matched the definition of classic beauty.

"Who's she?" asked the brown-eyed redhead pointing at Cesia.

"This is my cousin, Cesia. Cesia meet Shian, Hanakusuku, and Miyabi, Tintlet's triplet sisters. Speaking of your sister, where is she?" asked Kitchel as Cesia and the triplets exchanged how-do-you-dos.

"She's upstairs," said Shian in her usual haughty voice.

"I'll go get her!" declared Miyabi as she scrambled toward the stairs.

"TINTLET!" Miyabi yelled, "KITCHEL'S HERE!"

"TELL HER TO COME UPSTAIRS!" yelled a disembodied voice back.

"Well, you heard her, go upstairs," said Shian waltzing away from the door, Hanakusuku following in her wake. Miyabi shut the door behind Kitchel and Cesia and the two older girls climbed the stairs and entered Tintlet's room.

"Hi Kitchel!" greeted a girl with long, swirling blonde hair and blue eyes much deeper than Hanakusuku's, "Won't you introduce me to your cousin?"

"Tintlet this is Cesia, Cesia this is Tintlet," said Kitchel off-handedly.

"Nice to meet you!" said Tintlet, smiling as she shook Cesia's hand.

Cesia smiled back and replied, "Same here,"

"Hey! What about me?" protested a second voice.

"Lim! I didn't know you would be here! It's not like you to sponge off other people's cooking," said Kitchel.

"Ha ha," responded a girl with light brown hair.

"Cesia, this is my other best friend Lim Kaana. Lim Kaana, this is my cousin Cesia," introduced Kitchel who was obviously getting bored of introductions.

"Hi, I love your clothes!" announced Cesia as she and Lim shook hands.

"Thanks! I love yours too. You can call me Lim, by the way," said Lim with equal enthusiasm.

"Okay, Lim," said Cesia with a smile.

"Back to my question, what's up Lim?" asked Kitchel, getting peeved by all this talk about clothes.

"I just got a visit from the most infuriating, cocky, jerky, son of a bitch dumbass!" seethed Lim.

"Ouch! Lim you're kind of hurting my hand…" complained Cesia as Lim's grip on her hand tightened.

"Oh, sorry," said Lim sheepishly dropping her new friend's hand.

"Who is this weirdo anyway?" asked Tintlet closing her door and plopping down on her bed.

"The worst guy in our school," moaned Lim dropping into a chair.

"Shydeman," offered Kitchel.

"No! Worse!"

"Honestly I can't think of anyone worse except for his sister."

Kitchel, Tintlet, and Lim all shivered as Cesia listened, deciding to save her questions for later.

"Fedelta?" asked Tintlet.

"Bingo! We have a winner!" shouted Lim.

"He's not that bad,"

"He's incapable of acting like a normal person,"

"Huh?"

"Never mind…"

-

Rath wandered back home. Rune had carried his bad mood out into the street and eventually the three friends had dispersed. He sighed. He had no where to go but home now, unless he went to see Kara.

He had known Kara Mikkusu since he had first come to live with Lykouleon and Raseleane when he was four. Her, Kai-Stern, and his foster parents other friends were around a lot. He had always liked Kai-Stern the best but Kara was definitely second. She was laidback but not in the way Lykouleon was where you had the sneaking suspicion it was more like a mix of blind trust and some creepy knowledge of what was actually going on. No, Kara was laidback in an honestly absent minded way. With that in mind he turned around yet again and headed towards the Mikkusu house. Maybe he would even get to meet their infamous cousins before the party tonight. Not that he cared about them…

* * *

There was chapter 1, I'll probably get to the party in chapter 2 along with the real juice of the story! Remember, reviewing is the spice of life for insecure, insane people so please click on that little purple button! Oh, my friend wants to write something...

Chaos (my friend): Probably is spelled with two bs?

Pepsi: Damn she's stupid. Wasn't that worth it?

Chaos: I'm not stupid, I just can't spell!

Pepsi: Same thing.


	2. Divine Intervention

**Disclaimer: I thought I owned Dragon Knights but then my alarm clock woke me up to the harsh, cold reality that it belongs to Mineko Ohkami.**

The story is about to get weirder thanks to an allegedly escaped psychopath and a mysterious concert goer. Not to mention a supernatural guy with a thing about eyebrows.Rath and Cesia also meet for the first time. There is much spiking of punch and stalking on the parts of Shian, Miyabi, and Hanakusuku. There is some strong language and Tintlet gets a little bit emotional. Anyways read on and have fun. And for the love of all that is good and holy REVIEW!

* * *

"Hey Rath, what are you doing here?" asked a bleary Kara as she opened the door. 

"Is visiting people a crime now?" asked Rath defensively. He wasn't sure why he was here, except for the fact that he didn't want to go home right now. But he would rather die than tell Kara that. Besides Kara had a creepy way of knowing those things anyway.

"For you it generally is," responded Kara dryly, "But come on in. You can meet my cousin Zoma. Cesia's out right now but you'll probably meet her tonight anyway." Rath was sure he saw Kara smirk a little bit when she said that but decided to ignore it.

"Zoma, come meet a friend of mine," called Kara and a young boy with spiky purple hair and dazed gold eyes ambled into the entry way from the living room where Rath could hear the Final Fantasy theme playing.

"Rath, this is my cousin Zoma Youkai. Zoma, this is the son of a friend of mine, Rath Illuser. His parents are having that party tonight," said Kara off-handedly.

"Oh," said Zoma. Rath could tell he really didn't care. So could Kara, but before she could do anything her stomach growled loudly.

Rath looked at her blankly, "You just got up didn't you?"

"Yep, and now I'm going to go get lunch," she said as she trooped off toward the kitchen. Zoma and Rath stood staring at each other for a minute before Rath finally decided to break the silence, "Are you playing Final Fantasy?"

"Yeah. Do you play?" asked Zoma with more enthusiasm than he'd shown since Rath had first met him. Not that Rath was a brilliant ball of energy himself.

Rath smirked, "Of course I play."

"You are so cool!" cooed Zoma.

_Oh great, another fan, _thought Rath as he shuddered at the thought of Tintlet's crazed sister Miyabi. Those three girls made a hobby of stalking the older guys in the neighborhood.

Kara peeked out from the kitchen and smiled as she watched the three boys playing video games. Her stomach growled obstinately. _Maybe I really should eat_, she thought sheepishly.

* * *

"Kitchel, what are we doing?" asked Zoma. 

"We are playing ding dong ditch," said Kitchel proudly.

"What's ding dong ditch?" asked Pyore nervously.

"Thatz will show you!" beamed Kitchel.

"What! Why? This was your stupid idea!" yelled Thatz.

"Well you came along. Besides I'm not going to do everything you lazy glutton. C'mon kiddies, we're going to hide in those bushes while Thatzy rings the doorbell," Kitchel instructed leading the kids away while Thatz remained in the stranger's driveway.

"She's such a bossy bitch," muttered Thatz as he walked up to the door and rang the bell, nothing happened. He tried again…and again.

"They're sleeping. Or maybe I should say they're passed out from drinking too much," said a vaguely mischievous voice from behind Thatz.

"Well that would explain it. Wait a second," Thatz turned around and came face to face with a girl he had never seen before in his life. She had short blonde hair with fiery orange streaks and blue eyes gleaming with mischief. Thatz suddenly felt uncomfortable and more than a little creeped out.

"Uh, do you live here or something?" he asked.

"Uh…sure. If that makes you feel better," she responded.

_What's that supposed to mean? _Wondered Thatz but what he said was, "It does."

"Okay then! Can I play?" she asked in an excited voice that seemed more appropriate for a young child.

"Uh, what?" asked Thatz.

"Are you slow?" asked the girl, "Ding dong ditch, that's obviously what you were up to."

Now, it is important to state that Thatz was not only creeped out by this girl but disturbed in every single way imaginable to the human mind and to several alien species. But he felt like refusing her request would be a bad idea. As bad as spilling salt and not throwing it over your shoulder, or reading Kitchel's diary and not using hydrochloric acid to erase your fingerprints, or possibly have your fingerprints surgically changed, or just getting it over with and entering the Witness Protection Program. To put it simply, Thatz was confused so he resorted to the ultimate fallback response.

"Er…"

"What the hell is taking you so long Thatz?" asked the voice of a certain angry girl with carnation pink hair.

"Er…"

But the strange girl was much quicker than Thatz.

"Can I play ding dong ditch with you guys?" she asked.

"Do you live here?" asked Kitchel.

"Sure! If that makes you feel better. I could just be robbing it if that's more up your alley."

"Okay…" said both Kitchel and Thatz, agreeing on one thing in their minds: this girl was weird.

"I know of the perfect house," she said in a taunting, sing song voice that neither of the prank-loving teenagers could resist.

"You're in," they both said at the same time and promptly glared at each other.

"Yay!" cheered the girl and did a little hyper dance.

"Um, what's your name?" asked Kitchel feeling that that information might be necessary to tell the police later.

"Oh, my name?" she asked vaguely surprised, "It's Nalani."

"All right then, Nalani! Let's go!" said Kitchel grabbing Thatz by the back of his shirt and dragging him along so they could collect the shrimps and be on their way.

* * *

Rath looked around his foster parents' living room boredly. He saw Kai-Stern at the punch bowl, probably spiking it. He saw Kara hit Kai-Stern over the head obviously reminding him to share. Alfeegi had probably surmised as much too because Rath saw him threading through the crowd wearing a look that would curdle vinegar. Hopefully they would notice in time. He did like them after all, sort of. Kitchel had disappeared about half an hour ago dragging Thatz with her. Ringleys, Zoma, Pyore, and Fiji had also disappeared. Rath could only hope that they were okay, especially Thatz he was too young to die. Gil was busy talking to Laamgarnas and Tetheus was talking…er…staring…er glaring (?) at Ruwalk and his wife who didn't seem to think anything was wrong. Rune was watching Delte chat with Tintlet while Hanakusuku practically hung off ofhis arm. Miyabi was probably lurking somewhere, watching his every move. Maybe he should arrange it so received one of Kai-Stern's spiked cups of punch. Silk and Shian were both trying to manuever towards Nohiro through the crowd while shooting death glares at each other. 

Rath felt someone push him from behind. He managed to catch himself and spin around just in time to see a flash of gold and blue and a low uttered, "Damn!" If it hadn't been for that flash of gold and blue he would've thought it was Miyabi trying to hug him and then chickening out at the last moment. That happened surprisingly often.

Just as he began to relax someone pushed him again except much harder, he caught a glimpse of red but somehow felt certain his assailant wasn't Miyabi. He was ready to feel the impact from the carpeted white floor but instead he slammed into something solid. "Damn, twice in one night!" Rath cursed. "Excuse me," asked someone shrilly. Rath gulped and looked up straight into a pair of gold eyes.

"Oh sorry, I guess," he apologized grudgingly as he backed away.

"Gee, thanks. I can tell it was from the heart," said the girl he had bumped, well more like collapsed, into. He could get a better look at her now. She had long wavy black hair and red bangs. He didn't recognize her.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Cesia Youkai," the girl responded somewhat haughtily. Rath couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "What?" she asked in a much more down to earth voice.

"You're Zoma's sister?"

"Yes."

"But he's so nice."

"Are you saying I'm not nice?" she asked dangerously.

"Er…I wouldn't know?" he offered hopefully.

"Exactly," said Cesia nodding her head slowly as if instructing a dumb child. Rath began to back away but hit the wall. _She calls this nice? _He thought.

"So what's your name?" she said with that dangerous edge still in her voice making that simple question a demand.

"Rath Illuser," said Rath boredly. Now it was Cesia's turn for her eyebrow to shoot up.

"But Zoma made it sound as if you were intelligent," she said in surprise. Rath bit back a reply. Unfortunately he bit a little too hard and his tongue burst into a bleeding mess.

"Are you okay?" asked Cesia when she saw his eyes bulge.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Rath spewing blood as he talked.

"You know that saying bite your tongue. They don't mean it literally," said Cesia, "Here, come with me." Rath was then indignantly led to his own kitchen.

Cesia ran some hot water into one of the hundreds of plastic cups Raseleane had stacked on the kitchen counter for the party. "Drink this," commanded Cesia. Rath begrudgingly did as he was told. The pain lessened.

"Drink this too," said Cesia handing him a cup of punch. Rath immediately pushed it back at her. She shot him a look that dripped with smug joy at having to treat him like a baby, "Oh, come on. It'll take away the taste of the blood," she cooed at him in the worst baby voice he had ever heard. And he had lived with Raseleane for most of his life. Even Lykouleon was known to indulge in baby voices from time to time.

Just to wipe that look off her face Rath went against all his acquired fifteen years worth of better judgement and knocked back the punch in one gulp.

Kara entered the room, her actions no doubt governed by some god's sick sense of humor (oh how right he is…well more like demigod…). "Oh, I see you've met Rath," said Kara to Cesia her words barely even slurred despite that she had just knocked back three spiked punches in a row and was about to knock back a fourth. Before Cesia could say anything Rath collapsed and drooled, "And given him alcohol," finished Kara. She gulped down the cup of punch in her hand before calling out the kitchen doorway, "Kai-Stern, come here, Rath drank some of the special punch. Again…"

"This has happened before?" asked a shocked Cesia as Kai-Stern walked into the kitchen and sighed as he saw Rath on the floor, still drooling and giggling a little bit.

"Yeah, but last time it was Kai-Stern's fault," said Kara conversationally.

"Well at least that taught us how low his tolerance is. I see ten years hasn't changed that," said Kai-Stern in an equally conversational voice.

"You gave a five year-old alcohol?" asked Cesia even more shocked, if that was possible.

"Only a sip," said Kai-Stern guiltily. Kara snorted.

"Well at least last time he wasn't bleeding!" insisted Kai-Stern. Kara shrugged.

"Well what do we do?" asked a frazzled Cesia as panic set in.

"You are going to help us carry him up the stairs," said Kara matter-of-factly.

Cesia swore she could hear someone giggling as she, Kara, and Kai-Stern dragged Rath up the stairs. Luckily the party guests didn't seem to notice, except for Tetheus who cracked a rare smile for about a millisecond before going back to staring…er glaring at Ruwalk and Cernozura who were talking about the funniest thing Pyore did the other day. He felt compelled to tell them about the funniest thing Shyrendora did the other day….

* * *

"SHYDEMAN! WE'RE SITTING HERE!" 

"OH SURE! SINCE WHEN DO YOU READ 'DORA!"

Lim rubbed her ears, praying to God they wouldn't start bleeding. "Now I know why you wanted me to come," she said to Fedelta, "but you could've warned me…"

Fedelta shrugged.

"Do you plan on talking at all?" she asked.

Fedelta made a non-committal gesture between a head nod and another shrug.

"THAT'S A 'U'!" shrieked Shyrendora.

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ROW U!" shrieked Shydeman back.

"WELL THEN WHY DOES IT SAY THAT HERE!"

"MOVE YOUR FINGER!"

"What?"

"Just do it,"

"Oh, that's a 'B'…"

"Exactly! So therefore our seats are right there."

"NO THEY'RE NOT!"

"Umm yes they are," said Lim looking at the seat numbers. Fedelta grabbed her elbow, "Just sit," he commanded tiredly.

Lim jerked her elbow back and elbowed him in the gut, "Don't touch me."

"Oh I forgot, you like that girly-boy Rune," mumbled Fedelta snidely.

"WHAT? How did you know about that?" she asked in horror. Fedelta shrugged. But before Lim could beat him to a pulp, Shydeman and Shyrendora appeared.

"Why didn't you wait for us before you found the seats?" sniffed Shyrendora as she flipped her perfectly brushed white hair over her shoulder. Fedelta shrugged. Shyrendora's nostrils flared. _Just when I never thought it possible, we have something in common… _thought Lim as she watched the exchange.

"Whatever," said Shydeman dismissively, "Just as long as I get to sit next to Fedelta. And as far away from you as possible," he added with a pointed glare at his twin sister.

"Fine, Lim-chan and I will sit together," said Shyrendora to Lim's horror. She now had to sit between the shrieking banchee of the suburbs and the voiceless wonder. "Lim will like that, won't you Lim?" said Fedelta with a sickening smirk.

She forced a smile on her face, "Yes…that will be…peachy…" She knew he was doing this on purpose!

* * *

Kitchel, Ringleys, Zoma, Thatz, Fiji, and Pyore stared up at the large house in wonder. They didn't know places like this were built in dumpy suburbs like their's. Everyone was at a loss for words, except for Fiji. 

"Wow…" said the little girl blankly as she continued to stare against her will.

"I know isn't it fucking huge!" exclaimed Nalani clapping her hands like a little kid. Kitchel whacked her over the head, "There are children here dumbass!" hissed Kitchel. Nalani glanced over at the minors accompanying them who were staring at her with big, innocent eyes. "I mean…apples," she said before muttering under her breath, "Now I remember why I've never liked kids. Never could take a joke. Worse than Hitler…"

"What was that?" asked Kitchel. "Oh, nothing," answered Nalani with a wave of her hand, "I wasn't muttering about things I shouldn't know under my breath! Yes we we were! No we weren't!"

Everyone stared, just stared as the blonde proceeded to whap herself across the head and punch herself in the stomach.

"She's got a weak left," muttered Ringleys unwisely. The crazy girl turned her "weak" left on him.

"Maybe not," he choked out. "Ringleys! Are you okay?" exclaimed a panicked Pyore.

"Oh shit…I mean oops! Oops!" said guess-who (Nalani for our slower readers…)

"Where did you escape from? Did it by any chance have padded white walls? Possibly straightjackets and shots?" asked Thatz nudging Fiji and Ringleys behind his back.

"How did you know?" exclaimed Nalani, "Well I didn't really escape, my friends broke me out. And my assistant…er…I mean my friend still keeps my meds with him at all times!"

"If he has them how do they do you any good?" asked Thatz flatly before thinking better of it, "Wait, don't answer that."

"Focus people!" yelled Kitchel her eyes still on the big house, "Are we here to play ding dong ditch or not! Don't be a baby Thatz! Go up and ring the bell!"

"I'll go too!" said Nalani as she dragged Thatz up to the doorway by the back of his shirt. He seemed very used to it. When they got to the door, Thatz rang the doorbell. Yet again, nobody answered.

"I thought you said there were people here," he said accusatorily to Nalani.

"Just wait," she hummed adopting a zen finger pose. Thatz shrugged and copied her.

Footsteps were heard behind the doorway. Thatz was now very relaxed and didn't run like he was supposed to. Neither did Nalani. "Apples," cursed Kitchel from behind a tree. "Shit!" swore Fiji. Kitchel stared at her and Pyore fainted.

"Shit means apples right?" Fiji asked Kitchel.

Kitchel thought for a moment before answering, "Yes, yes it does. In French,"

"Oh, okay!"

Meanwhile a figure with a black nylon pulled over his face and a bulging plastic garbage bag in his hand.

"Uh, hello?" he asked.

"What are we supposed to do now?" a panicked Thatz asked Nalani, but she was gone.

"Uh, kid? Who are you talking to?" asked the robber.

Thatz stared at him for a moment before saying, "God. Yes, God. I am from the Church of Latter Day Saints…"

"Umm…I'm a Catholic!" exclaimed the robber before slamming the door in Thatz's face.

"That always gets them," Thatz grinned to himself.

"Nice save," said a woman's voice from behind him. Thatz turned and came face to face with Kitchel. He hadn't recognized her voice because there was some amount of awe in it.

"Thanks," said Thatz sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck. It had gotten really hot all of a sudden.

"Where'd Nalani go to?" asked Kitchel.

"I don't know. Wasn't she with you?" asked Thatz.

"No," frowned Kitchel.

"She must have gone home. It is pretty late," reasoned Zoma.

"Yeah, I guess," said Kitchel but she didn't sound very convinced. Thatz didn't feel convinced either. But then he took a look at Ringleys's black and blue cheek. "We better go back to Rath's house and ice his face."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Kitchel.

* * *

"Kenta! Why did you summon me?" whined Nalani at a tall guy with glasses and neatly brushed brown hair streaked with fluorescent yellow. He really hated his hair, sometimes it reflected off his glasses. 

"What's that in your eyebrows?" he asked distractedly.

"I don't know, grass or something! Aeronwy is right, your fixation with eyebrows is unhealthy! Anyway, you didn't answer my question at all!" cried a frustrated trickster.

"It's time for your medicine," he informed the trickster flatly.

"So what? I'll have you know that you-ooh, pretty butterflies…wait…I hate butterflies…die!" said a violently woozy Nalani.

"Time to up her dosage again," muttered Kenta to himself.

* * *

"Cesia, Kitchel and the boys are back. It's time we headed home," said Kara from the doorway. 

"Oh, okay," said Cesia dispiritedly from where she sat at Rath's desk. She glanced at the drooling, muttering, drunken boy. She felt guilty. This absurdity was all her fault. She began brushing off her skirt before shooting a look at Kara.

"You're not driving are you?" she asked mistrustfully.

"I'm drunk not stupid," said Kara, "Ringleys will drive!"

Cesia shot her a horrified look.

"I'm kidding. You really think I'd do that? We'll walk like they did in the old days. You know back in the 1800s or whenever. I'll just get my car tomorrow when I'm done puking," she said dismissively as she headed downstairs.

Cesia took one last look at Rath Illuser before leaving.

* * *

"Where are we going now?" Lim asked Fedelta. The two were following Shydeman and Shyrendora out of the concert hall through a rundown parking lot and an open field to a makeshift stage. 

"It's sort of like a place where younger bands play after the main concert. It's pretty cool," said Fedelta with the most expression Lim had ever heard him use when he wasn't annoying her. It sort of shocked her into silence for the rest of the walk to the stage. Too bad there was nothing that could shock Shydeman and Shyrendora into silence. They argued the whole way there about nothing in particular and continued until the band started. Then, thankfully, they were silent.

The band wasn't though. Chords ripped through the night air. Voices rose and fell intermingling with the music itself. The crowd cheered them on raucously during some songs, more quietly during others. Lim Kaana could feel the beat pulsing through her body. She felt the inexplicable need to get closer to the stage. Foolishly she gave in to it.

* * *

Tintlet sighed wearily as she unlocked the door to her house while forced to listen to the insipid chatter of her three younger sisters in the background. 

Miyabi insisted that Rath couldn't stop staring at her and when she gave him the silent treatment he got so depressed and lovesick he drained his sorrows in the spiked punch. Her story ended with a hiccup that made Tintlet wonder if Miyabi hadn't had a little too much of the stuff to drown out her sorrows that Rath had ended up talking to Cesia and as usual not noticed her as anything but an annoyance.

Shian was equally delusional as she insisted that Nohiro had practically convinced his undying love to her and totally ignored Silk. _Poor Nohiro_, thought Tintlet with a vague smile. He had tried so hard to be nice to both girls. Eventually he had ended up using Rune as a human shield.

But in Tintlet's opinion, the most delusional was Hanakusuku who swore that Rune wouldn't let go of her hand all evening and how sweet that was of him. Tintlet repressed the urge to snort. She had seen that one first hand. Hanakusuku had glomped onto Rune's arm early in the evening and had withstood even Ringleys and Fiji trying to bodily wrench her off so she could go play with them.

Before Hanakusuku could begin telling her fairy tale all over again, Tintlet cut in, "I'm going to bed girls. Don't stay up too late."

"Okay," they chorused and went back to repeating their stories over and over again egged on by the shrieks and giggles of the other two girls.

Tintlet wearily climbed the stairs and turned on the light in her room, closing her door behind her. It proved to be a weak barrier against the voices of her sisters, especially Shian. She walked to her dresser and couldn't help but smile when her eyes fell on the picture of Rune taped to the edge of her mirror. Her smile faded a little bit when she saw the nearby picture of Lim Kaana. It was from their freshman year, the year she found out that Lim liked Rune too. She always felt guilty for the feelings of rivalry she felt towards her oldest friend, except for Rune and Delte she had known Lim Kaana the longest of any of her friends.

Lim had been pretty withdrawn lately. And the way she looked at Rune, Tintlet could tell that she had given up. She felt glad and that made her feel like a terrible person. _I'm sorry Lim, _she said in her head as she crawled into bed, _but I just can't help it._

* * *

Lim Kaana seethed. She was partly angry at herself for getting so lost in the music and losing track of Fedelta and the others. The other half of her was angry at them for forgetting her. She was so blinded by her anger she collided with someone else and their heads cracked together. 

"Ouch…" moaned Lim, "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she quickly added as an apology to the person she had bumped into.

"No problem, I'll just jump into a river and ice my head later," said the girl she had bumped into. Lim looked her over. She was wearing a black t-shirt that said in colorful writing, 'You're not the brightest crayon in the box, are you?' on it and black jeans with a bright red grommet belt. She had black hair held back in a ponytail and a strand of dyed red hair hung freely to one side of her face, a matching one was pulled back with the rest of her hair in her ponytail. The striking thing about her were her eyes. They were blue and filled with swirling emotions which were semi-dormant right now.

"Are you okay?" asked the girl.

"I'm fine," said Lim lamely.

"Yo, Lim! Where are you?" yelled a familiar high pitched voice. Shyrendora broke threw the crowd moments later, "Glad I found you. We're heading home. Fedelta and Shydeman are starting the car. Who is that?" ended Shyrendora in a question.

"Oh this is…" Lim realized she hadn't asked for a name.

The other girl quickly surveyed the situation quickly before saying, "Aeronwy," and shaking Shyrendora's hand.

"Shyrendora Black," said Shyrendora haughtily making Lim want to slap her.

"Well don't let me keep you. You obviously have better things to do," she said sardonically, "Sorry for bumping into you, Lim Kaana."

"Same to you," shouted Lim back as Shyrendora pulled her away.

"Hurry up Lim. I wouldn't put it past those two to leave without us," chattered Shyrendora.

"Me too," said Lim darkly thinking of that apathetic, smug, odd, totally infuriating redheaded menace Fedelta.

"That girl was kind of creepy. She had this like aura around her. Did you see her eyes?" shivered Shyrendora.

Lim was surprised by Shyrendora's comment, she had noticed the girl's eyes. But they had inspired an odd curiousity in her rather than fear, actually they were vaguely comforting. However in the past few hours she had learned to always humor Shyrendora giving her bipolar temperment and how her screaming was vaguely reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard, only worse.

"Whatever you say, Shyrendora," said Lim counting down the time until she would be home in her Aunt Reema's house.

* * *

Well, that was a pretty long chapter. In the next chapter expect the arrival of Kharl the Magnificent! 

Now please review if you liked!

See ya later!


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